STRUGGLING photography giant Kodak has been given the green light to end its sponsorship deal with the Hollywood theatre that hosts the Academy Awards.

Kodak signed a £47.4m deal for naming rights to the theatre in 2000. But the company filed for bankruptcy protection last month and wanted to end its contract for naming rights of the glamorous Los Angeles theatre as it tries to improve its finances.

The company's financial advisers said in court documents that the benefits of having the company's name on the 3300-seat erstwhile Kodak Theatre were not worth the contract's cost.

Kodak confirmed yesterday that a US Bankruptcy judge approved its request to end the deal.

It is unclear what name will be on the theatre when the Oscars are awarded on February 26. Kodak said the termination was effective immediately and deferred questions on the theatre's name to the venue's owners and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

CIM Group, which owns the theatre, declined to comment on the decision or the future of the theatre's name. A representative for the academy did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

In addition to the theatre's name, its owners may have to make other tweaks.

The theatre has a George Eastman Room, named after Kodak's founder, which displays one of the nine Oscar statuettes that Kodak has been awarded through the years for its scientific and technical achievements and contributions to the industry, according to the theatre's website.

Kodak, based in Rochester, New York, is a photography pioneer but has been battered by competition and has failed to keep up with the shift from film to digital technology. It has been in a roughly decade-long turnaround but filed for bankruptcy protection when it ran short on cash.

The US Bankruptcy Court in the Southern District of New York handling the case also approved a £609m debtor-in-possession financing for Kodak yesterday that allows it to operate normally during bankruptcy, while it tries to sell its collection of digital-imaging patents.

Kodak spokesman Christopher Veronda said the company would still have a presence at the awards show, noting that seven of the nine films nominated for the best picture Oscar were shot on Kodak film.